Of Kadazan and Dusun

I read with great interest an article written in Daily Express dated 22-3-2009 in conjunction with Dr Herman Luping's soon-to-be-launched book "The Indigenous Ethnic Communities of Sabah: The Kadazandusuns".

He identifies 14 tribes who are of the same-speech community under the Kadazandusun category, namely:

1. Bonggi (Banggi Island)
2. Idaan or Tindal (Tempasuk, Kota Belud)
3. Dumpaas (Orang Sungai, Kinabatangan)
4. Bagahak (Orang Sungai, Kinabatangan)
5. Tombinuo and Buludupis (Orang Sungai, Kinabatangan)
6. Kimaragang (Tandek, Kota Marudu)
7. Liwan (Ranau and Tambunan)
8. Tangaah (Penampang and Papar)
9. Rungus (Matunggong, Kudat)
10. Tatana (Kuala Penyu)
11. Lotud (Tuaran)
12. Bisaya (Beaufort)
13. Tidong (Tawau)
14. Kedayan (Sipitang)

Traditional dance called Sumazau performed in Penampang

Kirai, the home-made cigarette used here to convey a message during engagement ceremony is still practiced within the Kadazan and Dusun community.

First thing first, there is no such term as "kadazandusun". It was created by politicians in an effort to supposedly unite the Kadazans and Dusuns in the 80-ies. Has it unite the many tribes socially? Not necessarily, if anything it only gave rise to more debate on what should one identify oneself as. While leaders of those days prefer to have one term for both Kadazan and Dusun, the population at large never really subscribe to this idea.

Even Dr. Luping himself is a fanatic, to certain extent. Read the article and you will understand what I mean. It is alright to dissect the bigger group into smaller tribes (and this is according to where they are residing, remember Sabah is not that big, geographically) but in my opinion let one identify himself/herself what he/she is comfortable with. Luping can be so hard on with his Kadazan stance but go easy with people who prefer to call themselves Dusun.

The Magagung, or beating the gong is a must during communal functions and celebrations

Luping forgot about Tamparuli and Kiulu. There are many Dusuns there; much more than the Lotud in Tuaran and these two areas are big enough to be put under separate DUN, namely DUN 10 and DUN 11. So, which tribe does he group these Dusuns into? Liwan, Tindal or Lotud?

Say, he sourced his material partly from Sabah State Museum and through interview. Maybe he has not met with the Deputy Director of Sabah Museum which hails from Tamparuli. It would be interesting to listen to his opinion.

It must be noted that Bisaya, Tidong and Kedayan does not really fall under either Kadazan or Dusun community.

Uniquely Penampang

The sigah (sigar in Dusun) is a headgear mostly assosiated with the Kadazan and Dusun people of Sabah, worn mainly during the communities traditional celebration or other social functions. In the olden days, sight of one wearing the headgear was quite common but the newer generation seem to regard the wearing as just for traditional introduction to visitors.

In Penampang, the sigah was immortalised by replicating it into community buildings, decorative structures, and erection of statue wearing sigah.

Statue of one of the earlier Kadazan leaders which was relocated from a filthy wastewater oxidation pond to a more appropriate location at the centre of Donggongon town in 2004.

Clock tower built between Dragon Restaurant and Ching Fah Restaurant. Note the sigah-like cap.

Giant sigah: Concrete structure to symbolise the Kadazan as the largest ethnic group in Penampang - located at a round about linking roads between Kota Kinabalu-Papar-Tambunan-Donggongon town.

Only in Penampang: A community hall called Dewan Huguan Siou in Kg Tuavon, in the shape of a sigah.

Earth Hour 2009

As at 24 March 2009 there are 2,398 cities, towns and municipalities in 83 countries around the world (earthhour website) that have committed to vote-earth for Earth Hour 2009. The vote earth tag is aimed at giving the human race the opportunity to elect between Earth and global warming.

So, what is Earth Hour and what is the significance of this campaign?

It is an annual international event created by the WWF, held on the last Saturday of March, that asks households and businesses to turn off their non-essential lights and electrical appliances for one hour to raise awareness towards the need to take action on climate change (Wikipedia).

Alas, for the people residing in Kota Kinabalu or generally in Sabah, the call to switch off their lights for an hour at 8.30pm come March 28 in support of action on global warming may remind the people more of the perennial black-outs rather than the intended awareness campaign itself.

It is like, you are practising this for years and against your will - I am refering to the many incidences of sudden blackouts that sometimes results in going without electricity for hours. In Penampang, it can happen any time. It can be in the form of power dips, multiple power trips of 2 to 3 black-outs and it can sometime go on for hours; so much so that if I were to make complaint using my fixed line telephone, the operator at SESB (Sabah Electricity Sdn Bhd) call centre could tell my name by just looking at my caller ID.

I am not calling this call a joke, but in Sabah you can not help but think that way. Sometime you just wonder if it is due to lack of political will, pure case of bad planning on the part of the utility company, or is it true that the government does not have the necessary fund to improve the situation. What is clear is that every now and then politicians come over (and I mean, the big shots from federal level) with pledge to do something, with little or no result to shout about.

Back to the Earth Hour. As one of the considerate and aware citizen, I would participate in this event by switching off a couple of the fluorescent lamps come 28 March. It may not make much difference individually but a synchronised action globally sure will get the message through.

Happy Earth Hour!